


By Any Other Name

by BadDuckPuns, SinnohRemakes



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, F/M, Hugs, Platonic Cuddling, Pre-Relationship, takes place during Kamoshida's Palace, they're still Phantom Thieves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:15:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28141506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadDuckPuns/pseuds/BadDuckPuns, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SinnohRemakes/pseuds/SinnohRemakes
Summary: Akira is an outcast. Akira is the leader of the Phantom Thieves. Akira is a vampire.None of this is fun, but he can't avoid it.And his hunger was killing him.-----------------------------Something's up with Akira, and Ann's determined to help.She ends up learning more than she expected.
Relationships: Eventually - Relationship, Kurusu Akira/Takamaki Ann, Persona 5 Protagonist/Takamaki Ann
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	By Any Other Name

**Author's Note:**

> Only context necessary for this AU is that everyone is a non-human creature. Akira is a vampire, Ann is fae.

Their outings into Kamoshida's Palace had been rough. Even with their inhuman physiologies, boosted by their wills in the Metaverse, pushing them past what could be achieved by normal humans (and cats, if one was to count Mona), fighting the Shadowy guard weighed on all of them heavily. Out of everyone, Joker could feel it weighing on him most of all. He was in charge of organizing the whole effort, and on top of that–  
A sharp pain in his stomach caused him to flinch back from peering around a wall.  
On top of his de facto leadership position, he hadn't eaten in over a week.

The flinch didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the group, not by a long shot.  
"Everything okay?" Panther asked, right as Skull and Mona voiced their own concerns. "That didn't look like an 'almost got spotted' flinch."

"...I'm alright. Don't worry about it. Guard is moving left, pop out on my signal."

The look Panther shot him made it apparent she wasn't buying it. "Got it. We'll talk after." She said simply, but her tone was somewhere between a promise and a (friendly) threat.

Panther was... somethin' else. Joker clicked with Skull in a way he didn't normally, but Panther...? Panther seemed to see right through him, see through all his walls. It terrified him.  
But those were feelings for another time. As he readjusted his mask, he felt the spirit of Arsene alloy with his own, readying Joker for the ambush.

Panther was quick to pull Joker aside the second they locate the next Safe Room, making good on her words. They left Skull and Mona arguing about…whatever it was on the opposite side of the room.  
"So," She began, dragging him to sit down on the couch with her, "What's going on?"

"It's nothing, just..."  
Joker absentmindedly ran his tongue over one of his fangs.  
"I only get a monthly blood stipend. I'm running a bit low, is all. I'll be fine."

"That is not fine!"  
Skull and Mona looked over at the outburst, surprised, but Panther waved them off.  
"Seriously, what the hell?" She hissed, keeping her volume in check this time. "If you need to feed then you need to feed! Do you want to feed off of me?"

Joker looked over at Panther, eyebrows knit together.  
"What? No. I get more on the fourth, I'll live. Don't worry about it."

"You just said you were running low, and it must be pretty low already if you're going around with flinch-worthy hunger pains. Not to mention the Palace trips – are you really sure you'll last until then?"

"Panther," Joker began, letting some of his field voice slip into his normal speaking tone. "I'm not going to take advantage of you like that. I'll be fine until the fourth."

Panther rolled her eyes, but moved back a little from where she'd been leaning in. "It's not 'taking advantage', you big dweeb. I'm worried about you – like, as a teammate and as a friend. If you need some extra blood to make the wait a little easier, you can have it."

Joker breathed out sharply through his nose. He hated this. He didn't need it, he'd be fine. He didn't want her sacrificing anything about herself for him.  
"Panther, I'm going to- I will be fine. I don't need any more blood. It's only a couple of weeks."

"A couple weeks– look, we could make it an exchange, if you feel like it's too one-sided or something?"

"Don't you feed on, like, touch or something? I don't want to force you to do that, considering..."

"Nope, not talking about him, c'mon." Panther pokes his face. "I mean yeah, thank you for the consideration, but hugging you for a bit isn't like…a disgusting thought, or anything like that. Again, we are friends. We can hug without it being weird."

Joker noticed Skull and Mona, finished with their argument, walking towards the two of them. He crosses his arms, worrying the material of one of his sleeves.  
"If... if it'll make you feel better, we can trade feeding off of each other."  
He sticks out his hand to shake.  
"Deal?"

Panther doesn't hesitate. "Deal."

The impact of their gloves together rings through the room. Skull saunters up, hands in his pockets.  
"Y'all makin' deals without me? No fun."  
Joker side-eyes his right-hand man.  
"Ease off the y'all there, pal. It's nothin' to worry about. Besides, break time's over. We've got work to do."  
With that, he turns on his heel, casting his coat back as he strolls out the door to the safe room.  
________________________________________  
Akira was nervous. No, that wasn't it, he was really fuckin' nervous. Ever since being turned, he had never actually... fed on anyone. Logically, Ann was probably the best case scenario. She trusted him, and he has literally put his life in her hands before, and even if he fucked up big time there was no way that he could actually turn her.  
And he was REALLY hungry. He only had a few vials of blood left that were supposed to last him until May. He was considering tapping into them now, even if he knew that it would just make the hunger worse later on.  
Even with all this, Akira was nervous. He lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Thankfully, Sojiro had closed for the day, so he didn't have to worry about getting yelled at for having a girl over, but still-  
He was snapped out of his spiraling thoughts by a knock at the door downstairs.

"Heyo!" Ann chirped as Akira opened the door, letting her in. "Got kinda worried I'd have to break in, for a sec."

Akira snorted.  
"'Spose I'd expect that from a cat burglar. Come on, my room is upstairs."  
He relocked the door behind Ann to appease Sojiro, then stepped out in front of her and led her through the modest cafe and up the stairs into his attic prison.

"Wow, when you said 'right above a café', you really meant right above a cafe. No wonder you always smell like good coffee."  
Ann didn't hesitate to plop down on the attic couch once she spotted it, making herself comfortable. She patted the seat next to her, beckoning Akira to join.

Akira hesitated before moving over to the couch and sitting down next to his friend. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he was pressuring her into this somehow.  
Gods, he needed to get his head out of his ass.  
He let his head thunk back onto the bookshelf behind him, staring up at the ceiling.  
"Whenever you're ready, I suppose. Unless you wanted to go first?"

"Nah, you go first. Do you want to bite, like, my wrist or something? Or does it have to be my neck?"

"Uh, I think it has to be your neck."

"Alright. Well, let's do this, then." Ann leaned closer, tugging her shirt collar down just a little.

Akira steadied himself before leaning in closer, baring his fangs. He kept reminding himself that she was okay with this. His teeth pierced the thin skin on her neck. The overwhelming taste of sugar filled his mouth, before-

_love, and be loved in return  
care for those you love  
be a balm for their wounds and a shield against further injury  
do no harm, but take no shit ___

____

____

He jerked back, his head impacting the cheap plywood shelf.

"Shit–" Ann startled at the sudden movement. She ran her fingers over her neck gingerly, as though searching for something that could've caused that reaction. "Are you okay??"

Akira could feel his eyes flitting around as he tried to process what he just felt, the taste of stale sweetness heavy in his mouth.  
"What- Did you feel that too?"

Ann shifted uneasily, but made no move to leave. "Well, I certainly felt…something. You're not, like, hurt or anything, right? Aside from where you hit your head."

"I'm. fine. That felt, weird though. Really weird."

"Do you wanna try again, or…?"

"Not before we figure out what that was. I don't want to hurt you."

"Yeah, good idea…"  
Shifting again, this time to get more comfortable, Ann let her leg bump against Akira's. A little act of support. "So, 'weird'. What kind of weird? Because for me it was like– this sense of you being present? But more than you already were. Like, extra-present."

"Presence... 2." Akira muttered under his breath.

"So present we might as well start putting gift wrap on you."

"Christmas is coming earlier every year. If I see ads for cakes I'm going to- Wait, no, tangent."  
Akira patted himself on the face, putting him back into the present.  
"It felt like... It felt like I knew you. Knew you more than normal, I suppose."

Ann stilled at his response. That sounded an awful lot like– "Did you…uh. Feel anything concrete? Like a true name…?"

Akira winced. If he had somehow gotten her true name without even asking that was bad. "Not a name so much as... a feeling of who you were. I don't think I could really put it in words."

"Oh. Uh– hm." Ann had her hands together in front of her mouth, which she was struggling to produce words with. "Yeah, so– hmmm. That's. Sort of what a true name is?"

Akira stood up, looking shocked.  
"A- shit. Fuck. I can't, no. Hell no."  
He was pacing back and forth in the small room.  
"Ah, shit. Ok. I did not want that. How do I. Get rid of it? I don't want your true name."

"Ohhh–kay, let's settle down a little." Reaching for his hand, Ann pulled Akira back to the couch. "C'mon, listen to the fae here, I know things."  
Once Akira was seated again, albeit still looking disturbed, Ann started to explain.  
"So, you're kinda…stuck with it? Unless you somehow get a serious head injury and forget everything up until this point– which you are not going to do," she added in quickly, "I had no clue you could perceive it just from feeding, but you wouldn't be able to perceive it at all if I didn't trust you enough to have it, so…yeah."

"I... Okay. Okay. We're going to unpack that later. But okay."  
He purses his lips and looks down.  
"I don't- I'm still not... comfortable having this power over you. Can I give you mine?"

"I…sure?? If that would make you feel better about it?"

"It- yeah. Yeah, it would. I don't want to-"  
Akira cut himself off, doing the breathing trick Takemi had taught him.  
In-two-three-four, out-two-three-four.  
He began again.  
"I am not comfortable having this sort of power over you. I just want to balance it, if I can."

Ann nodded, patting him on the back once he finished his breathing thing. "Okay, sounds like a fair deal. If you can perceive mine through feeding from me, do you think I'll be able to perceive yours the same way?"

"Ann, I really have no idea. I'm new to all this. But whatever you want to try, I trust you."

"Well…let's try it, then." She opened her arms. "Come get your hug, nerd."

He hesitated again.  
"Do we... Isn't it skin-to-skin contact?"

Her words had an edge of laughter to them when she spoke. "That's the most efficient way, yeah, but I didn't think we were at the 'comfortable hugging each other while shirtless' stage just yet."

"I mean. You need to eat, Ann. I don't really care. That catsuit doesn't leave much to the imagination, and I'm not going to make you eat less if I can help it."

"Well, in that case…lose the shirt, I guess?"

"Yeah, gotcha."  
Akira pulled his old, threadbare shirt over his head, tossing it onto the bed. Perfect shot.

"Kobe." The words were a bit muffled as Ann slipped off her own shirt, draping it over the arm of the couch to minimize any wrinkling. "Just checking, but you're totally okay with this? Like, you're not just doing this just because you feel obligated, right?"

"Dude it's like twenty-five degrees, I'm not going to complain about taking my shirt off. Now, 'come get your hug, nerd'."  
He said those last words in a bad impression of Ann's voice, holding his arms out.

"Maybe your codename should have been Copycat, it would've fit." She laughed, going in for the hug.

Hugging Ann was... very nice. Akira was a tactile person, it was in his nature, but Ann was just very nice to hug. He could smell her perfume and feel her soft hair under his chin. He could also feel something less... explainable. A feeling of being known, of being understood.  
And then Ann pulled away, and the feeling went with her.

There was a beat of silence, then two, then–  
"Not to sound weird or anything, but your true name has almost the exact same feel you might get when someone you love gives you a plate of perfectly-made sugar cookies." Ann announced, patting his hand. "You are, factually, the sweetest vampire in existence."

Akira couldn't really process what Ann was saying, so of course the first thing out of his mouth was a stupid joke.  
"What about Sprinkles, the candy vampire?"

"Sprinkles couldn't even beat Count Chocula in an arm-wrestling contest, and neither of them could hold a candle to you."

"Th-thank you??"  
Akira blinked a few times at the really nice compliment.  
"Shit, can't believe I didn't think of Count Chocula."

"Sacrilege. How could you forget your ancestors? You're gonna see his face in the clouds now, telling you to remember who you really are." Ann couldn't keep a straight face at that one, but tried to keep it toned down. "On a more serious note, though– you okay? No unusual side-effects from the feeding?"

"No, no, I'm good. I feel kind of, like, fuzzy right now?"

"Aw, I gave you the warm and fuzzy feelings?" She teased, slipping her shirt back on. "Or the 'having thoughts is a mildly difficult process' kind of fuzzy? Because that's pretty normal."

"Yes."

"Charmer."  
Ann checked her phone – no new messages, but it was starting to get late. "I was about to say 'not to sound too strange', but I think feeding off of each other means we're well past that point. Do you want to go visit Shiho with me? I wanna check in on her before visiting hours end."

"Oh! I mean, yeah! If you're both cool with it, I'd be happy to join you."

"I doubt she'll have a problem with it." She chuckled, nudging him with her shoulder before standing up. "Well, let's make tracks– uh, after you put your shirt back on, I mean."

"Eh, the sleep pants are more of a titties-out sort of look, you know?"  
He joked, moving over to his box of clothes to pick out an outfit.  
"I have to change, but, uh. Thanks for this. For being cool and all that. I was really hungry, and I don't- I wasn't ever going to ask."

"Yeah, I know you wouldn't have. That's why I nagged you into it, y'know? But also, it was no problem!" Ann called over her shoulder as she started down the steps. "I'll wait for you downstairs, 'kay?"

"Yeah, I'll be quick."  
Pulling his pants on and looking for a blazer that didn't look too awful, Akira could feel a tightness in his chest.  
It was odd. It started as soon as Ann finished descending the stairs and was out of his view. He didn't usually feel like this after eating, and it wasn't like he liked her or-  
A moment of self-awareness crossed his mind.  
Oh.  
_Oh. ___

**Author's Note:**

> huge thanks to Kidd SinnohRemakes for... writing the work with me lmao, go give her some love  
> might write more in this universe? I have stuff in mind and I love me some vampires. Leave a comment if you want to see more, if you're curious about the AU, if you have any ways I could make this better, or if you just want to say hi :)  
> comments and kudos generate more fics


End file.
